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Below are a number of presentation from the ALPO
2006 Conference held in Atlanta, Georgia. All are in
pdf. Note that ALL of these pdf files require the free
utility Adobe Reader available at
https://adobe.com or
click the "Adobe Reader" button at left.
There are two ways to access these documents:
- Left-click on the file name below the image
to simply open the file and read it online.
- Right-click on the file name, then save the
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your own terminal.
In both cases, the documents will open in Adobe
Reader on your terminal.
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Planetary Imaging Workshop
By: Larry Owens, ALPO Member
An extended session which explores the
complexities of planetary image acquisition and
various processing techniques of Registax 3.0
required to overcome camera limitations, optic
system configurations, and even planetary imaging
challenges. The workshop will include abundant
demonstrations and a lab where participants can
practice these techniques using their own laptop
(CD’s will be available loaded with processing
software and raw images for use in the lab).
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Eclipse Section Report
By: Dr. Mike D. Reynolds, ALPO Eclipse Section
Coordinator &
Member of the Board, ALPO
An overview of recent and future eclipses, with a
focus on 29 March 2006 Total Solar Eclipse
observations and data. New techniques for eclipse
imaging will also be overviewed, including stacking
of images taken during totality.
Excellent conditions persisted for the majority
of 29 March eclipse observers. Differences in
observations included totality horizon colors; those
across Africa describe a colorful horizon whereas
those observing on Mediterranean and Aegean ships reported a
“monochrome” eclipse.
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A Convenient Transit of Mercury: November
8-9, 2006
By: John E. Westfall, ALPO Mercury/Venus Transit
Section Coordinator
The 2006 transit will be Mercury’s last until
2016, but its first portion will be visible
throughout the Americas. The entire event can be
seen from western North America and the eastern and
central Pacific, and the last part of the transit
will be visible from East Asia and the western
Pacific.
The ALPO Transit Section invites visual, film,
and electronic observations of transit optical
phenomena, such as the “black drop,” as well as
timings of the transit contacts.
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Mercury Highlights of 2005
By: Frank Melillo, ALPO Mercury Section
Coordinator
There were more observers participating in 2005
with three evening and three morning apparitions. Many observers from around the world
were able to fill in the gap where one hemisphere is
more favorable than the other one. We have
significant number of independent simultaneous
observations. Due to the advanced technology such as
optics, filters and the Internet communications, it
is more of a pleasure to observe Mercury now than
ever before.
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Scaling the Earth Moon System and Lunar
Topography: Model Approaches
By: Clyde Simpson, Observatory Coordinator,
Cleveland (Ohio) Museum of Natural History
School age students generally have difficulty
comprehending the relative sizes of the planet Earth
and its Moon. Likewise, the Earth/Moon distance is
usually greatly underestimated. The Education
Department at the CMNH has developed several exact
scale models of the Earth - Moon system using
relatively simple and common materials.
The museum has also developed a hands-on activity
whereby students construct clay models of the lunar
surface using topographical and geologic maps. Also
to be discussed are the wide variety of CMNH
exhibits and displays highlighting lunar geology.
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The 2005 Apparition of Mars: An International
Event
By: Don Parker, ALPO Mars Section Coordinator
Between 2004 and 2006, the ALPO Mars Section
received over 4,500 observations from 143 observers
in 23 countries. In addition, several thousand
observations were submitted to the International
Marswatch and Japan-ALPO web sites. Thanks to
improved instrumentation, proper use of color
filters, and CCD/webcam technology, quality
observations were made when Mars’s apparent diameter
was less than 5 arc-seconds, permitting temporal
coverage to extend over three full Martian seasons.
The Internet and the worldwide placement of
dedicated observers resulted in a nearly continuous
monitoring the planet throughout much of its
apparition.
Various aspects of the 2005 apparition will be
presented. These include albedo feature changes,
meteorology, and analyses of localized and regional
dust storms.
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Maps of Mars' South Polar Cap: 2003-2005
By: Richard Schmude, ALPO Mars Section
Assistant Coordinator
Mars’ south polar cap shrinks and changes shape
as it shrinks during the spring and summer.
Presented here are 30 maps of the shrinking south
polar cap during Martian spring and summer. The
speaker used over 1,000 Mars images made in 2003 and
2005 from all over the world, along with grids
showing Mars latitude to make the maps. This
worldwide collaboration was necessary to make maps
at all of Mars’ longitudes. In a real sense, this
work is the result of C.F. Capen’s vision of
worldwide Mars collaboration. The main conclusion in
this work is the set of 30 maps of the shrinking
South Polar Cap.
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Topographic Features of Mars Observed by G.H.
Hamilton and C.F. Capen
By: Gene Cross & Rodger W. Gordon (presented
by Gene Cross)
Topographic features on Mars were observed by G.
H. Hamiltion and C. F. Capen using groundbased
telescopes. Features such as the craters Huygens,
Copernicus, Newton, Tharis volcanoes, Olympus Mons,
Valley Marinaris, and many others, were observed.
Hamilton (1924) used an 11-inch refractor at 300X &
430X, Capen (1969) used an 82-inch reflector at 800X
and with cameras. Images by the observers
themselves, and one by Tom Cave, will be shown.
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Jupiter: Recent Developments and Trends
By: Richard Schmude, ALPO Jupiter Section
Coordinator
Since 1999, the speaker has measured the
brightness and color of Jupiter. Presented here are
results of this study and will also similar
brightness data from 1963-65 collected by Irvine et
al. One important conclusion from this work is that
Jupiter had an almost constant albedo between 1999
and 2006. (Albedo is the fraction of light that an
object reflects; coal has a low albedo and fresh
snow has a high albedo.)
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Saturn: Programs and Recent Observations
By: Julius L. Benton, Jr., ALPO Saturn Section
Coordinator
With its truly magnificent rings, the planet
Saturn exhibits many features that invite
well-organized visual observations and imaging
projects by amateur astronomers. Using instruments
of moderate aperture in good seeing conditions, a
series of bright zones and darker belts can be seen
extending across the globe of Saturn roughly
parallel to the equator, as on Jupiter, and the
rings are subdivided into three main components, the
outer two separated by Cassini’s division. Although
Saturn requires about twice the magnification needed
for studies of Jupiter, the planet is far from being
a dull and unchanging world, and remarkable detail
in the rings and on the globe is routinely revealed
by amateurs who routinely image the planet using
webcams and CCDs. A brief compilation of results
gleaned from over half a century of ALPO studies of
Saturn are cited, and a summary is given of current
observing programs, including a continued appeal for
more simultaneous visual observations, ideally
concurrent with times when Saturn is being imaged.
Several Professional-Amateur cooperative research
programs are cited. Although the rings are slowing
progressing toward their next edgewise orientation
in 2009, with a current inclination of -19º, good
views are still possible of the southern hemisphere
of Saturn’s globe and the south face of the rings.
Some of the more interesting observations of Saturn
during the 2005-06 apparition are described, with
prospects for the 2006-07 observing season.
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A Review of Five Major Bright Outbursts on
Saturn and
A Suggested 57-Year Period
By: Walter H. Haas, ALPO Director Emeritus
Five major eruptions have been observed on the
normally tranquil surface of Saturn and are briefly
described. A large and brilliant bright oval was
observed in the Equatorial Zone in 1876, in 1933,
and in 1990, thus every 57 years. Many bright and
dark spots appeared near latitude 36 degrees north
in 1903, and there were numerous white spots near
latitude 60 degrees north in 1960. The separating
time interval is again 57 years. Discussion includes
the probability of the existence of unobserved
similar events, the lack of observational evidence
for the assumed sudden appearance of the 1933 and
1990 EZ features, a possible acceleration in the
rotation of those two objects while they were
visible, and an accompanying probable northward
shift of North Hemisphere belts in 1990.
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The Remote Planets: 1991-2006
By: Richard Schmude, ALPO Remote Planets Section
Coordinator
Almost 20 people contributed observations of the
remote planets in 2005. The Planet Uranus has
continued to get a bit darker while Neptune has
maintained about the same brightness that it had
during 2000-2004. Images of both planets failed to
reveal definite albedo features in 2005. Ed Grafton
measured the brightness of the moons of Uranus using
unfiltered CCD images. The brightness values of the
moons are close to literature values. These results
may be useful for people wishing to record the
mutual events of the moons of Uranus during 2007.
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Extra-Solar Planet Measurements
By: Richard Schmude, ALPO Remote Planets Section
Coordinator
Extra solar planets are those that orbit stars
outside our solar system. In rare cases, extra-solar
planets eclipse the stars that they orbit and these
eclipses can be studied from the Earth. Jim Fox
measured the brightness drop of HD 209458 by its
companion planet (HD 209458b) as the planet
transited the star. This star’s brightness fell by
0.01 magnitudes. Jim used an SSP-3 solid-state
photometer along with a 10-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain
telescope to make his measurements. It is concluded
that amateurs can make a contribution to our
knowledge of at least the extra-solar planet
orbiting HD 209458.
(This page last updated
April 26, 2007)
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